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User blog:Degrassi Forever/Destroying Juliet, Chapter Three
THIS IS NOT A FAN-FICTION. THIS IS A STORY I WORKED ON DURING MY SUMMER HOLIDAYS. First Day: The new school had a strict uniform: knee-length navy-blue skirt and a white shirt with the school crest on the pocket, all hair to be tied back and minimal jewellery. The guys wore the same, except for the skirt of course; they had to wear navy trousers. It was really different from the relaxed uniform at my country school, which was more a dress code, not enforced at all; this was mature looking. I really felt like things were changing when I put it on. It was like I was leaving the old me, the boring country girl, behind and becoming someone new. It seemed to hold out the opportunity to be anyone I wanted. The night before school started I looked at it lying on the end of my bed like a flattened person and I was excited. You know the way you feel when you don't know what to expect, but have so many expectations? I couldn't sleep all night, stressing out over what would happen on my first day. At breakfast, I felt really sick. Looking at my bran flakes floating in a puddle of milk made me want to puke. "I feel the same way," Dad said, watching me over the top of the paper. "What?" I asked, willing the vomit not to rise. Around me the timber and granite kitchen was still piled ceiling high with unpacked boxes of cups, plates and stainless steel appliances. "Sick," he smiled and drank his caffeine-free coffee. He didn't look sick at all to me, the way he bogged into his eggs and bacon. The smell made me feel like retching. "I'll be the new kid too." "We all will," said Mum, sitting down on the chair next to me, "even Ruby." Ruby looked up from where she was kneeling on the kitchen chair, porridge in her wispy blonde hair and hanging off the end of her nose, and responded by flicking globs of it at Mum. In a way Mum was right. We were all going to new schools. Ruby was starting daycare - I hoped she'd fit in with all the other two and three year olds, and nobody would steal her box of sultanas - and Dad was teaching in the English department at the same school where Mum, who I blame for the whole shift, was the new Head of Maths. And I was about to enter an enormous metropolitan high school, population 1500 - I don't think that many people lived in Grace Point. It was a small mercy that neither Mum nor Dad was at my new school. Dad drove me to school. We got there early and sat in the car watching the students arriving. They all looked so neat and professional. Not like at Grace Point where the kids tied surfie jumpers around their waists and the girls wore mini skirts or hipsters, in school colours. These students looked practically adult. The school was modern, it couldn't have been very old. Perfectly manicured lawns separated the buildings, with their names - English, Maths, Social Sciences - displayed on the portico entrances. Each building was surrounded by more gradens, whose perfume we could smell from the car. Tall, leafy, light green trees shaded the lawns. On one side of the grounds there were netball courts and playing fields and on the other was an enormous two-storey building labelled Administration. It was a far cry from my country school, which catered for pre-primary to Year Twelve, a single rectangular building of red brick, probably built by the first convicts, surrounded by verandahs with chipped, faded painted railings.; where the playing field was the local town oval and the netball court was a warped, volcano-like citumen surface that also accomadated four sqaure and hop scotch. I sat in the front of Dad's car, sweat sticking to the back of my legs to the vinyl seat, feeling intimidated by the size of the place and the maturity of the students. "Looks big," I said to Dad, not taking my eyes off the school, my stomach gurgled like a washing machine. "And newm" he replied, looking at me closely. I felt his eyes on my face, so I turned to him, swallowing my anxiety and trying to be brave. "You'll be fine, Juliet, you'll make friends quickly." I nodded my head, of course I'd be fine. Fitting in had never been a problem before, what was I scared of? "Okay," I leaned over to give Dad a hug. "Have a good day too. Don't let anyone steal your lunch money!" He laughed. "I'll be here at four thirty, after hockey tryouts," As I stood at the edge of the drive watching his battered Ford Escort jolt its way down the road, I realised people were looking at me. I tried to look casual and calm as I started walking to the Administration Building. Mum had wanted to come with me but I was fourteen, I didn't want anyone thinking I needed to hold mummy's hand. The front office was divided in half by a tall reception counter. There were about five women working behind it at desks and computers. People kept coming and going through several doors, smiling and grumbling, "Back again - another day, another dollar," and "Holidays already seem like a memory," A few of them smiled at me as I waited behind a man who was talking to the office lady. I looked at the photos and awards on the walls, achievements for sport and academic excellence, artwork by Year Twelve students that was so good I was almost embarassed about the quality of work at my last school. The office lady was laughing loudly with the man in front. I critically assesed him from behind. No doubt, a young and potentially cute teacher. As I waited and waited I began to feel like a hillbilly trying to intergrate into the big sophisticated city. Finally it was my turn. The office lady gave me a huge pile of papers and pointed me in the direction of my homeroom. "Mitch," she called to the man who was just going out the door, "can you take Juliet to her homeroom? She's new." I wanted to die. How embarassing! I didn't want all the kids to see me being walked to class by a teacher. I opened my mouth to say I was all right but Mitch spoke. "No worries, Ms Johnson, I'll see she gets there okay." He smiled at me with his perfect white teeth and then I saw the school crest on his pocket. He was a student! My face started going red; it always happens when I'm embarassed, and then knowing it's happening makes it even worse. Suddenly I was hot and sweaty. "Come on then... sorry, what's your name?" "Juliet," I said throught dry lips. "That's a nice name." He took the papers out of my hands. "Right, my name's Mitch, I'm Year Eleven and you are-" he looked down at the papers in his hand. "Year Ten. That makes you fifteen, yeah?" "Fourteen." I was stretching my legs to keep up with him. He was over six foot tall, perfect athlete's build, and had a really long stride. "I was put up a grade in Year Seven." "You must be really smart then?" He looked at me with admiration and I felt myself blushing again. We were crossing the lawn to a building near the netball courts. "Oh, I don't think so. I guess it was all the extra work my dad made me do. He's a teacher." I said, by way of explanation. "Cool," he pushed open the door of the building. Inside, students were laughing and pushing each other, or standing in groups talking. The hallway smelled of new carpet and the walls were decorated with more prize-winning artwork. Mitch stopped in front of a door marked SS4. "This is your home room, teacher is Ms McKenzie, who, by the way, is really cool. Have a good day - I'll probably see you out there. Gotta go, I've got Mr Truman, a bit of a wanker." He waved at me and left. I put my head around the door. There were about twenty students sitting on desks or rocking back on chair legs, talking and laughing. They looked so much older than me and far more confident. I was still aiming for casual but I walked in stiffly and self-consciously, and sat at a desk in the front. I heard their whispers, "She must be the new girl," "nice hair," where's she from?" "I heard her mum's a principal." I sat uncomfortably with my new, rigid school bag on top of the desk, pretending I couldn't hear anything. I rummaged through it dertiminedly until I found my school diary, and then made like I was engrossed in reading the school rules and policies. I hoped someone would come and talk to me. The next minute a messy body flopped onto my desk, pushing my bag to the floor and obscuring my reading. "Hi," he thrust his hand in front of my face. "I'm Jacob and you are...?" "Juliet." I looked up. He had ruffled, short, dirty blond hair. His white shirt was open revealing a necklace with a shark tooth on it. Compared to the rest of them, Jacob was a slob. "Sweet," he said shaking my hand hard. It felt like my fingers were breaking. "Hey guys, this is Juliet," he shouted across the classroom. I turned and smiled, a few of them smiled back and one girl waved. But some of them didn't even look at me. Immediately, I felt embarassed and insignificant. "Don't worry about that lot," he said, pointing to a group of about six girls who hadn't looked my way. They were all pretty, with long straight hair and no fringes, their uniforms immacutely ironed and shoes that looked brand new. "They're stuck up snobs." One of them heard and shot Jacob a murderous look. "Piss of you surfie dickhead," she spat. Jacob was completely unfazed. "See what I mean?" He pointed to another group. "Those girls over there are okay. Pretty quiet, but you should get to know them. And most of the guys are okay." I was grateful he'd come on to talk to me. He was a typical surfer with brown skin and freckles. His washed out blue eyes had little pink patches underneath them and his nose was slightly burnt from the sun. Just then the door opened and a young, pretty teacher walked in. Jacob slid off the desk. "Gotta go," he said. "Talk to you later." He moved to the back of the class. Ms McKenzie smiled at me straight away. "Hi," she said, and came over and looked at my timetable. "Who's got English first?" I looked around the room as several people put their hands up. Unfortunately, Jacob wasn't one of them. He shrugged his shoulders resignedly as I made eye contact with him. "Shae, will you take Juliet to class?" I looked over at Shae, who smiled sweetly at Ms McKenzie. She was one of the people who'd told Jacob where to go. "No worries Miss Mac." The way she said it made it sound like Miss Smack. "I'll help Juliet settle in." I looked at her appreciatively, but she'd already lowered her eyes and was whispering into another girl's ear. The bell sounded and the room was instantly full of noise and movement, the scraping of chair legs, the rustle of paper and the whisper of synthetic bags brushing against cotton clothing as everyone headed for the door. They waved and smiled at Ms MacKenzie who made comments to each of them as they left. "Now Jacob, I see you're breaking the dress standards again." She sounded stern but I could hear the smile in her voice. "Oh Miss," he leaned against the table as if he were chatting her up. "at least I styled it up." He picked up the spiky bits of his short hair and flicked them at her. "Go on, get to class, you know Mr Truman will issue you with a bluey for those," she pointed to his shoes, one with a red lace, the other a blue. "They're school colour," he insisted, turning his toes in and out. "Jacob!" she said, "I don't know why I bother with you, I'm always trying to get you out of trouble." She shook her head and rummaged through her leather briefcase. "Coz I'm one of your favourite students," he said , tucking his shirt in for her approval. "I wonder. Here," she flicked a small blue packet at him. He deftly caught it, snatching iit out of the air like it was a flying insect, "Shoelaces!" he said smiling at her. "Miss, you're always full of surprises!" "Yeah right, like we haven't been doing this every year since Year Eight. Now don't be late to class." She waved him out the door. Laughing to herself, she looked up and saw me still filling my bag. I was unsure what to do. Shae was busy talking to a friend and hadn't looked my way. I felt like a spare. "Now Juliet, Shae will show you to your class - and Shae," she smiled at the girl who, was now waiting impatiently for me with her arms crossed, "play nice." "Of course Miss," Shae said, "Juliet's going to be in safe hands." She grabbed my elbow and led me to the door like a big protective big sister would. Out in the hallway she dropped her hand. "We'd better hurry, we've got Smith and he's a cow if you turn up late to class." She walked quickly in front, her blonde hair swining from side to side, glinting with golden highlights. She wore her uniform casually and well, confident she looked good. She reminded me of Lara from my old school, a girl who could get any guy in any year she wanted. I could never really see why guys liked her: aside from the fact she was pretty - and wore a C cup - she was a right bitch. Like Lara, Shae was pretty, with perfect, clear skin and pale green eyes. I felt kind of drab and clumsy next to her. As she pushed open the doors to take us outside I saw her eyes light up. I'm good at picking up tiny details. Dad reckons I'm like a detective. He says I could have a career in forensics, searching for missing clues. Her walk changed from brisk to casual and I noticed a slight sway develop. She was walking slower now, towards two guys sitting under the leafy canopy of a tree. We were almost next to them when Shae suddenly started showing great interest in my timetable and explaining to me each teacher's nasty habit. "Mr Cartwright has really foul breath and he's a close talker, so you always want to keep the conversation short. Ms Taylor calls everyone folks, like she's really cool, but she doesn't know that wel all think she's an old fogy." Then suddenly without any reason for it, Shae laughed loudly, swung her hair and lightly tapped my arm. "Oh don't look so surprised, it'll all be okay." I had no idea what she was talking about. I opened my mouth to speak but the next second she'd tripped, fallen onto the lawn and ended up in a heap on one of the guy's bags. I stood there in shock, embarassed for her. I expected her to be humiliated but she just laughed loudly. "Oh God, help me up," she offered her hand to me and flicked her hair again. I dropped my bag to take her hand but the two guys had already leapt to their feet and were fussing around with her. "Shae," the tall one said, pulling her upm "are you okay?" She stood up straight, bits of grass sticking to her skirt. Her eyes were about level with his chest. "Sure, I'm fine, just a klutz..." But then he looked at me and cut her off. "Hey Juliet, thought I'd see you around but not so soon." "Hi MItch," I said, feeling the warmth rise in my chest. Not again! "Jeremy, he turned to the other boy, who was picking up She's bag, "this is Juliet, the girl from this morning." Shae's eyes had narrowed when Mitch greeted me. Now her teeth were clenched, there was a pulsing in her jaw and she shot me a deadly look, similar to the one she gave Jacob. "You know each other already?" she accused me. "We met in the front office," Mitch said dismissively. "What class have you got now, Juliet? I can take you." "We're fine thanks." Shae's words were sharp and she took a step closer, putting herself between Mitch and me. "I'm showing her where to go." Mitch laughed. "At least you're not telling her where to go. I know how much you like doing that!" Shae looked majorly pissed off. "We're late. See you at practice after school, yeah?" He turned and looked her squarely in the eyes, giving her a Hollywood smile. Suddenly her face softened. "Yeah," he said. "See you both later." I looked back to see him wave as we walked away. Shae opened the doors to the English separtment and we walked into the central area off which classrooms radiated like spokes on a wheel. The grey concertina doors to each room were drawn shut, but I heard the low drone of teachers' voices as we passed by. "That's our class there, but come with me." She led the way across the back verandah to a small building detached from the rest, its door marked Female Students. She pushed the door open to a smell of stale cigarette smoke mingled with the harshness of bleach. Resting her bag against the white basin she pulled out a packet of Winfield blue and a tiny cigarette lighter. "We're late anyway," she said through lips clenched around the yellow filter. In the silence I heard the tobacco sizzle as she sucked in a huge lungful. "You keep near the door, in case anyone comes." She nodded her head towards the door. I didn't want to be her lookout; none of the girls I'd hung out with smoked. If you got caught at my old school, you'd get suspended. How bad would that be? My parents would both drop dead if they were called to the principal's office. Shae offered me a cigarette, "Want one?" I shook my head, It stank and the room was fillinf with smoke. I knew it was getting in my hair. I just wanted to go to class, not be stuck in the girl's loo with Shae, who was turning out to be unpredictable. "Mitch is really hot," she said, looking at me stonily. I watched the way her lips narrowed as she sucked on the cigarette. "He split up with his girlfriend over the holidays so now he's available." She was watching herself in the mirror as she spoke. "We hooked up at a party on New Year's Eve but he's not ready to commit." She put her cigarette out in the basin, it hissed softly then she flicked the butt into the toilet. She sprayed herself with deodarent and squirted a shot of toothpaste into her mouth. She used her tongue to coat her teeth with it, then swirled water in her mouth and spat it into the sink. "I'm not interested in Mitch," I said, thought I had thought he was pretty hot. I really wanted to get to class. I knew this would make a bad impression. Mum and Dad harp on about lateness like it's a capital offence. Shae visibly stiffened and sneered at me. "I'm not worried about you," she said, like I was a cockroach that she had just run over. "I was just being friendly." She ground her heel on the cockroach and pushed past me to class. All the students were sitting quietly, heads bowed over their workbooks, pens moving quickly over the lined pages as Shae pushed the door open. "Sorry we're late," she said to Mr Smith, a large, sweaty teacher with several strands combed over his shiny head. He was perched on the edge of his desk like Humpty Dumpty. "I found the new girl wandering arounf lost, and brought her here to class." She gave me one of her deadly sweet smiles. "Isn't that right, Juliet?" I didn't want to agree with her, and I certainly didn't want to start my first day by lying to my English teacher, by Shae had hidden dangers lurking beneath the surface or her pretty face. She was obviously the kind of girl you don't want to piss off. Everybody had stopped working and was watching us. "Yeah," I mumbled guiltily. "Okay," Mr Smith said, "seating arrangement's in alphabetical order, so that's you there Shae and you there." He pointed to a vacant chair next to a girl who was so skinny she looked like she'd snap in two. I was relieved not to be next to Shae for the next forty minutes. As I walked past Mr Smith his smile shrank from a half ellipse to a hyphen. His eyes narrowed slightly and I watched his nose twitch, sampling the air around him. "Juliet," he said really sternly. I felt myself blushing. "I loathe lateness, you must get to class on time. "Yes sir," I sank into my chair mortified. The way he shook his head at me before he walked off, I knew he thought I'd been smoking. I stank of it. I was staring at the board, trying to figure out what we were supposed to be doing and ignoring the people looking my way, I'd never felt so heavily observed before, or so self-conscious. The skinny girl next to me leaned over and said, "My name's Sukey." "Hi," I whispered, smiling at her, "as in Polly put the kettle on?" She rolled her eyes in disgust. They were a little too apart, giving her a slightly vague look. She had a narrow, clear-skinned face with a nose that was a bit too large. Her front teeth almost crossed each other. her arms were thin and pointy bones, with large knobbly hands at the ends. She reminded me of a cartoon character. "Sukeey take it off again. Yeah I've been listening to that nursery rhyme all my life, thanks Mum. What's your anem?" "Juliet," I said opening my workbook. Before the comment I added, "as in Romeo and Juliet." "At least it's a pretty name. Why do parents have to be so different?" she complained, shaking her head. "Could be worse," I said. "You could be called Fatima." She nodded her head smiling. "Or Eunice," she countered, her voice a little louder. "Or Titsiana," I said and we both laughed loudly. I really had known a girl called Titsiana. We called her Tits for short and the funny part was she really did have a massive pair of breasts. Sukey was cracking up. She had a loud tinkling laugh that reminded me of Ruby's Dorothy the Dinosaur from the Wiggles. The next minute Mr Smith was standing in front of us, blocking out the sun. "Girls, if you don't quieten down I'll have to move you." He looked at me quite angrily. "Not a good start, Miss Maloney." He shook his head and tutted loudly. I bit my lip, swallowing my laughter and looked over at Sukey. Her head was down and she was working quickly. I picked up my pen dismayed he had the wrong impression of me. After about twenty minutes doing work, the siren sounded. All right, pack up," Mr Smith said. "We might finish this activity next period." Several students groaned but I knew we wouldn't be doing it next lesson. I've grown up with teachers and I know a time filler when I see one. "I've got Science next; what have you got?" Sukey asked. I pulled out my timetable and tried to decipher it. "Maths," I said eventually. "You must be in all the top classes," she said, nodding her head in approval. Shae sauntered over, her bag hanging by one strap from her shoulder. "Right, I've got Maths, it's the top Year Ten class with Cartwright - we're starting Calculus this year, which is actually a Year Eleven subject." She looked down patronisingly. "Are you off to Science with Sook?" "No, I've got Maths too." I said apologetically. I watched Alice's eyes narrow and the edge of her nostril go white. She squinted at me hard, making me nervous. "Well then," she smiled, "let's go together." She grabbed my elbow again, this time a little harder and pushed me to the door. Maths is pretty easy for me. Mum's given me a lot of help at home and I was always in the top class. Mum can't help being a teacher - all the time. Sometimes when I just want to beg out on the couch Mum would be pushing me to learn something new. She's right into explaining why things work. "When you understand the mechanics, you can work out any problem." she reckons. Anyway I knew not to show off. I was feeling very uneasy about Shae and we hadn't even made it to recess. When we got to the classrooom Shae's friend was leaning against the wall, books folded against her chest. "Hi," she said, but wasn't looking at me, just Shae. "Hollie, this is Julietm" Shae said, not looking at me either. "Hi," Hollie said flatly. I smiled at her, but the greeting froze on my lips. She was staring at me with such a mean look my smile withered and I only managed to force a nod. "I've got us a spot near the front," she said to Shae. "Good," said Shae, walking into the room. The desks were all in pairs, I watched Shae and Hollie take the two seats next to the window. Around them everyone was chatting and Shae and Hollie joined in straight away, The girls in particular seemed to want their attention. There was a spare seat behind them but I couldn't bting myself to go there. I stood in the doorway biting my lip until I saw a seat near the back of the room. I slid into it, opened up a workbook and waited for the teacherr. I tried to concentrate in the maths, and stop thinking about everything. Mum reckons I'm a worrier, always considering all the possible outcomes of everything. She reckons I give myself too much of a hard time, stressing about being the best and getting things perfect. I'm not sure if she's right. But I don't like to do things badly, and I do want people to like me. I shook my head, I was going it again. Stressing out. I tried to forget it all, switch my mind off and do the sums. It was a hot day and the airconditioning was humming over the scratching of the pencils. Somone coughed and someone else was tapping their pencil against the edge of a desk, as if deep in thought, I finished and looked around. Everyone was still working and the teacher was at the front of the class helping some girl. I slid my novel out of my bag. I was reading The Catcher in the Rye, a must-read my dad reckons. He said I was lucky not to have been born a boy, otherwise I'd be called Holden - which he reckons with confuse people, and was the reason I wasn't named Portia, from The Merchant of Vanice. "We couldn't have everyone asking why you were named after a car." he says. Mr Cartwright was now wlaking around the class, looking over shoulders and stopping to help people. I was holding my book slightly under the desk, so it was out of sight. Suddenly I felt him behind me. He leaned down near my ear. "Miss Maloney," he whispered loudly, his stale breath howevering across mu nostrils, "this is Mathematics, not English." "I've finished sir," I said quietly, not looking up. But I might have been Oliver Twist asking for more food from his reaction. "Finished!" he exclaimed loudly, exhaling his malodorous coffee and cigarette breath over me. "Finished!" He straightened up and snatched my workbook off the desk. Everyone turned to stare. I felt about the size of a flea. My face was burning hotly and I slid down slightly into my seat. Shae and Hollie were smirking. He read through my answers and his look of smug derision slowly changed to sheepish embarassment. "Ah, good effort, Miss Maloney," he said as he put my book back down on the desk, patting it like it was a small furry animal. "You've worked very well. Sit quietly and read a book until the siren goes." He nodded his head me, like he'd thought of it himself, and walked off. I looked up a Shae was turning back to face the front. But I saw the sneer on her face as she looked away from me. I went and sat outside the gym at recess. Phys Ed was my next class and I didn't know where else to go. Shae had walked quickly out of Maths when the siren sounded. Everything about her body language indicated it would be better if I didn't tag along. She was sending clear signals of dislike. I was sitiing on the cold concrete watching other people. A group of girls were talking, leaning into each other and alughing. They looked so comfortable I suddenly felt homesick. I missed my old school and friends so much I almost choked on my raw carrot stivks. Mum insists on making my lunches and they're always full of health food. Engrossed in my sudden loneliness and raw vegetavles I didn't notice when Sukey walked by. She stopped, her bony silhouette framed by the sunlight. "Hi," she said. I smiled up at herm knowing what a pathetic no-mate I looked like. The new girl with no friends, sitting on her own. "Hi," I returned gratefully. "Why don't you come and join my group?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders as if I'd already said no. "We sit over on the netball courts." "Okay," I picked up my bag and followed her, sudden relief enveloping me. She led me to the courts, which overlooked the oval. The oval was scattered with distinct groups of students. Several groups of guys mucked around with a footy, but most of the girls sat in circles, talking and watching everyone else, shouting and laughing at each other. There was only one group on the netball courts, they sat in the far corner and watched us approach, caged behind the wire mesh fencing. I clutched at the strap of my school bag as we neared them, a step behind Sukey. Her group of friends was mismatched and odd looking. "This is Juliet." Sukey said They were all looking up at me and smiling. ALl except for this overweight girl with seirously bad skin and short, spiky hair. She looked like she had something shoved up her bum. She made me feel nervous, the way she looked at me, like she already didn't like me. "Hi," I said, hoping I didn't sound like a desperado. "That's Tamara," Sukey said pointing to the fat girl, who nodded and kept eating ehr sandwich. "And that's Jemima and this is Marshall." Jemima was a tiny white-faced girl with pink rosy cheeks. She nodded and smiled and then dropped her eyes immediately. She was nibbling at an apple like a little mouse. Nibble, nibble, furtive glance, nibble, nibble again. Marshall was blond, shortish and wiry but well built and he had a perfectly symmetrical handsome face. I thought he was pretty hot. "Welcome to our little group," he said, waving his hand elaborately as I sat down next to him and opened my bag. "You might not want to sit with his after this though," rumbled Tamara suddenly, shifting her weight between the court surface. "You'll be labelled as one of the Weirdos and Queeros." "Oh, ignore her," Marshall waved his hand in her direction not taking his eyes off me. "We don't care what the Bitches think." "Bitches?" I asked through a mouthful of celery. "Your tour guide," Sukey explained. "Her group believe they are the A Group, the most desirable and popular group in the school. Note the identical haircuts and subtle makeup." She rolled her eyes in disgust, "Personally, I think they are a pack of chain-smoking sluts." "Not to mention boy rooting." offered Jemima.softly. Marshall clapped his hands in obvious deight. "Well done Jemima, that's the spirit. Now tell us what you really think of them." "I'd never say it to them," Jemima looked horrified and seemed to shrink at the attention. "C'mon Jem, what we say here is sacred. It doesn't go beyond these fences," Marshall reassured her. I was listening to their conversation without speaking, unsure as to what I should or shouldn't say. "Look Sook," Marshall pointed to the oval, "the footy team's playing at lunch today." I lokoed across to where several tall men were walking around pointing to different parts of the grounf. "That's the footy team?" I blurted loudly and then felt myself blush as they all stared at me. I sounded like a country hick. You know the type- they walk around like tourists pointing at everything."They look about thirty years old." I added. "Our footy team is home to the real men," offered Marshall rescuing me from my embarassment. "The ones with all the extra testosterone. Sook look, there's Jeremy." He was pointing at the boy I'd seen with Mitch earlier. Jeremy was jogging around the boundary of the field. I hadn't noticed how good looking he was. Where Mitch was tall with dark hair and eyes, Jeremy was fair haired and blue eyed and he had a fantastic body. "Sooks, he just smiled at you," he said giggling. "No he didn't," said Tamara, "he was smiling at her." She nodded her head towards me. I watched the excitement freeze on Sukey's face. Oh God, not again! "Yeah, you're right," Sukey's voice was heavy with disappointment and the corner of her mouth twitched. "As if he'd even look at me. He was smiling at Juliet." "No he wasn't," I jumped in quickly, shaking my head. I didn't want Sukey to think jeremy fancied me, or that I even wanted him to. "It was you he was smiling at." But instead, it sounded like I was playing coy. She looked at me with a sad mouth and changed the subject. I sat anxiously listneing to them talk, too upset to say anything more. When the siren went at the end of recess, I stood up with the others and followed them off the coruts. "See you later," Marshall called, taking off quickly. Everyone murmured farewells and we all walked off in different directions. Go to Chapter 4 Category:Blog posts